Orthodontic appliance



April 25, 1933. J. ADERER 1,905,877

ORTHODONT IC APPLIANCE Filed Sept. 3, 1931 WHIIWIII WITNESS uv VENTOK W J0; 105 flpERE/a 13y A TTORNE Y5 Patented Apr. 25, 1933 JULIYUS AD-ERER, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE Application filed'Septeinbr 3, 1931. Serial No. 560,909.

My invention relates to an orthodontic appliance and more particularly to a device known in the profession as a lock. Such locks are used in conjunction with fastening devices for orthodontiabands'or alignment wires which, in dentistry, located along the lingual or labial parts of the dental arch for the purpose of correcting imperfections in the positions of the teeth. These wires are generally detachably secured to metallic bands anchored upon suitable teeth at opposite portions of the dental arch, usually at the rear thereof. In order to provide a device 'eficient for its intended purposes, it'is highly desirable that said wires be locked against unintentional displacement by the patient yet be readily removable by the dentist when a new or modified adjustment of the wire is required as correction of the imperfections proceeds. Heretofore it has been attempted to secure this result in many ways, most of which, however, have been but partially successful because the locking device has been susceptible of displacement by the patient, for instance, by manipulation of the tongue, by chewing certain substances, and in other ways.

The particular object of my present invention is to provide an orthodontic lock which will overcome all such diificu'lties and will provide a reliable interlock which will resist detachmentof the parts save as and when the dentist wishes to separate them.

' In the preferred form of the invention the lock comprises a round post which fits into around socket fiattene'don one side to facilitate soldering to the tooth bands, and a lock pin sliding on the alignment wire by means of a collar soldered to a portion of the lock pin at right angles to the portion thereof which is adapted to engage the post and socket.

The invention thus contemplates the provision of an orthodontic lock which is simple in construction and easyto applyand which is readily removable by the dentist when required, but which cannot be displaced by the patient.

In the accompanying drawing in which a-particular embodiment of my invention is illustrated, Fig. 1 shows the complete apare customarily ing, the wire pliance on a natural sizeflmodel of a human lower jaw with actual size lock and alignment wire with lock pin in position; Fig. 2 shows the post; Fig. 3 shows the socket; Fig. 4 shows the alignment wire soldered'to the post and carrying the look pin; Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the socket; Fig. 6 shows the socket soldered on the post and the locking pin in position on the band, and Fig.

v7 is a section along line 77 of Fig. 6 showing my appliance attached to a the band encircling the tooth. Referring more particularly to the drawing, in which similar reference characters identify similar parts in the several views, my orthodontic appliance comprises two members, one 'of which is in the form of a plug 10 constructed of a suitable metal and preferably of substantially circular horizon-. tal section. The other member of the device consists of asocket 11 of suitable metal corresponding in cross-sectional form to that of the plug and of substantially the same inportion of .terior configuration as the outer configuration of said plug so as to be adapted tohave the latter inserted therein. Y

The post or plug 10 has a substantially semicircular channel 12 cut in the upper end thereof within which one end of the alignment wire 13 is fixed, for instance, by solderpreferably extending over and beyond the' end face of the plug. Before the alignment wire 13 is soldered tothe post 10 the collar-14 carrying the lock'pin 15 soldered thereto at right angles, is placed over the wire, The collar 14; is of such di mensions that it slides freely along the alignment wire 13.

The lock pin 15 as shown in Figs. 4 and 6 is rigidly supported on the collar 14 and horizontal portion permanently in alignment.

with the plug aperture with the upper surface constantly at the same distance from the longitudinal center line of the wire 13- in the region of the plug 10 as is theupper surface ;of the plug aperture from-said central line.

The socket member 11 of my device is provided at its upper end with a channeled seat 16 of a configuration appropriate to receive and support the wire 13. It will be seen that when the post 10 is inserted into the socket 11 the end portion of the alignment wire 13 will rest in the channeled recess 16. The socket member 11 is flattened on the side on which it is to be soldered to the tooth band 17', the flattening of such side facilitating thesoldering of the socket to the band, and reducing the extent to which the socket would otherwise project from the band 17, as clearly shown in Fig. 7.

The post is provided in the opposite faces of its peripheral surface with apertures 18- 18 and the socket 11 is provided on the side of its peripheral surface facing the lock pin 15 with an aperture 19 which is at the same distance from the upper extremity of the socket as the aperture 18 of the plug 10 with which it is adapted to cooperate is from the upper extremity of the plug 10. The crosssections of the apertures 18 and 19 have approximately the same radial dimensions as those of the pin 15, therebyassuring a frictional fit with the pin. In locking my orthodontic device in pos tion .on the band of a tooth,-the plug 10 1s inserted on thesock-et 11 with the apertures 18 and 19 in registry with each other The collar 14 is now moved along the alignment wire 13 until the locking pin 15 is opposite theaperture- 18 of the plug andthe registering aperture 19 of the socket. The locking pin 15 is then forced into the post and socket. the distance which said lock 15 extends into said post and socket being determined by the length thereof or by the particular position assumed by the collar 14 along the alignment wire 13. In my preferred application of the lock to the post and socket members, the

collar 14 is pushed along the alignment wire 13 until it comes in contact at its lower portion with the outer periphery of the socket 11 asin Fig. 6. It is to be understood, however, that the particular position assumed by the lock with respect to the socket 11 is dependent upon the extent to which it is permitted to penetrate the aperture 18 and the inclination (with reference to the axis of the collar 14) at which the-lock pin 15' engages the apertures 18 and 19. Thus, for instance, in order to obtain a secure locking of the pin 15, the dentist may apply a slight pressure on'thepin, so as to displace the pin from exact horizontal position with reference to the collar. By such manipulation the pin 15 can be made to engage the walls of the post and socket members with accentuated friction so as to be seated firmly there- Furthermore, the slight inclination of the locking pin 15 from the horizontal, prior to insertion into the post and socket members,

will cause one or the other ends of thecollar 14 to engage the alignment wire 13 with accentuated friction and to be held thereon by sufficient frictional contact to prevent the locking pin 15 from becoming disengaged from the post and socket by manipulation o the tongue of the patient even if the pin 15 does not frictionallyengage the entire peripheral surfaces of apertures 18'and 19.

Even in the exact horizontal position of the locking pin 1 5 with relation to the apertures 18and 19*0f the plug and socket, the several parts when inter-engaged, will, due to inter-communicating strains, maintain themselvesin the locked position until separated by movement of the collar 14 on the wire in a direction longitudinal of the wire. Thus the wire 13 being under constant strains in its work of correcting the dental condition for which the wire is used, imparts strains which intensify the frictional contact. between the plug and the socket. Said strains tend to disturb slightly the exact parallelism between the apertures 18 of the plu and 19 of the socket which in turn intensifies frictional effects on the pin 15. The wire cannot turn the plug 18 since it is seated in the channelledseats 16 of the socket but any tendency to turn will again intensify the frictional relation between the pin 15 and the aperture 19 of the socket. The plug cannot rise from the socket but any tendency in that direction again intensifies the friction between the pin 15 and the aperture 19. In this way the strains of use will afford a secure interlocking which is proof against movement of the collar 14 longitudinal of the wire 13 until by an instrument or by a forceoriginating from the outside, the collar 14 is forcibly displaced from the position itoccupies when the parts are interlocked.

It will benoted-that thepresent arrangement provides an efficient locking device for orthodontia which is easily applied to the elementscomprising the orthodontic appliance and which look is. readily disengaged by the operator, for instance, by exerting sufficient pressure against the side of the collar 14 by any appropriate instrument to slide the collar along the alignment wire 13 thereby removing the pin 15 from within the post and socket, and which look cannot be unintentionally displaced by the patient.

I claim:

An orthodontic appliance comprising longitudinally separable members, one of said members consisting of a tubular socket provided on one side thereof with an aperture penetrating its wall and on its top with a channelled seat for an alignment wire, the otherjof said members consisting of a plug having its outer peripheral surface conforming with the inner peripheral surface of said socket and adapted to fit into said socket in surface engagement therewith, said plug having an aperture adapted to register withthe aperture in said socket only when said plug is fully seated in said socket and the alignment wire rests on the seat of the socket, an alignment wire attached to the upper end of said plug in parallelism with the aperture of the plug and at a distance from said aperture corresponding to the distance between the wire seat and aperture of the socket memher, a collar slidable on the wire toward and from said plug, and a lock pin rigidly supported on said collar and comprising a horizontal portion aligned with the plug aperture and a vertical portion rigidly connecting said horizontal portion with the collar and maintaining the horizontal portion permanently in such a position that its upper surface is constantly the same distance from the longitudinal centerline of the Wire in the region of the plug as is the upper surface of the plug aperture, whereby the horizontal portion of the pin is positioned and movable for entry without distortion into and for withdrawal without distortion from the apertures of the plug and socket when the apertures are in registry with each other and whereby at the same time the parts When inter-engaged will, due to inter-communicating strains, maintain themselves in the locked position until separated by movement of the collar on the wire in a direction longitudinal of the wire.

JULIUS ADERER. 

